Surrounded. Again. Only now, they were in what Helen thought was one of the most secure facilities the Dueglesteiners had in their possession. They were stuck in a prison with no way out.
The sound of Luke’s sword being drawn called Helen to action, and she unsheathed her own blade. If it was a fight they would have, Helen would give it her all. She had been practicing, both Adalene and Luke guiding her through the rules of a blade. She could handle them now. Now, she wasn’t helpless.
Helen glanced over at Richard and offered a smile. His new eyepatch reflected the light of the torch, giving him what looked like a fiery eye. She was ready if he was ready.
As the first soldier made his way over to her, Helen quickly remembered the forms, disarming him in a flash. As more soldiers rushed over, Helen and Richard fought them together, stealing glances from each other every so often.
But soon, it seemed like there would be more men than they could handle. Helen was becoming winded, and each strike she gave took every last bit of strength and determination from her. She tried to look over at the others and saw that they, too, were getting tired.
The look cost her, however, allowing a soldier to slash at her, ripping through her cloak and cutting the arm underneath.
Her sword fell from her hands.
“Helen?” Richard shouted over the madness, “Helen!”
Pain shot through her arm as the blood dripped down her elbow and onto the stone floor below her. Her head felt dizzy as she lost more blood, and Helen leaned herself against the wall to steady herself. She couldn’t fight if she passed out.
“What’s going on?” Skylar’s voice rang out in the hallway.
“Helen’s injured!” Richard shouted back, pushing a guard away with a kick. Adalene quickly covered for him as he moved over to where Helen was while she cupped her arm.
“Let me see,” he muttered, and Helen removed her hand to reveal the ugly gash underneath. Blood was staining her white shirt under the coat, still dripping to the ground.
Richard winced at the sight of it before bringing out some bandages from his pack to quickly cover it. After making sure that she was alright, Richard rejoined the fight. But Helen stayed where she was. Each move with the arm sent pain shooting through to her shoulder. She could hardly move, let alone hold a sword.
She’d only be a burden if she tried to fight.
A strike from a soldier sent Richard stumbling back onto the floor, and Helen quickly saw that Luke had fallen, as well. It wasn’t like Luke had been struck, however, just that he had fallen. What…just happened?
Helen reached a hand out to the two of them, itching to help. What was going on? Were they hurt? Did they need her help?
“Get up!” she shouted to them, her voice urgent as the soldiers seemed to be closing in, “Come on, guys, you have to get up!”
Reaching with her good arm to Richard, she hauled him off the ground before helping Luke, as well. “We have to run,” Helen told them.
“Right,” Luke nodded, and they quickly turned in the direction where Skylar, Alice, and Peter were fighting. If they all charged in that direction, maybe they could drive the soldiers back enough that they could run out of here.
As Adalene covered them in the rear, Helen, Richard, and Luke helped the others drive off the soldiers in front. Soon, it appeared to be working. They were making their way through the halls once again, cutting down soldiers as they went. It looked like they might be able to make it out of here alive.
But just as things looked like they were positive, it was crashing down once again. As they made it out into the night air, Helen stumbled over an unseen rock and fell into Richard, sending the two to the ground.
As she tried to get up, a hand gripped her shoulder, dragging her back towards the fortress. As the others continued running, Helen struggled with the grip of a Dueglestien soldier.
“Let…go!” she shouted and found that Richard was pinned down by a soldier as well.
Finally, somebody heard their cries for help and turned around. Luke’s eyes grew wide as he ran back for them, his sword swinging at any soldier near him. A look had passed his face, an expression of determination and sheer rage.
“Luke!” Skylar’s shouts rang across the night air, “Luke, get back here!”
But Luke ignored her cries. He was just focused on Richard and Helen.
The soldier had now tied Helen’s hands behind her back, his beefy hands gripping her upper arms in a tight lock. There was no escaping this.
Richard had a knee to his back as another soldier tied his hands, then the man stood him up and held him in a similar fashion.
“Run, Luke!” Helen shouted to him, but he seemed to ignore her. “Forget about us, just run!”
“Luke!” Skylar continued shouting, and she tried running after him. But Helen saw Adalene hold her back.
The gate was beginning to close now, and the rest of the group ran underneath it before it could shut completely. But Skylar was gripping the bars, shouting for Luke to come back. But it was too late now.
The other soldiers formed a circle around him, but he stood his ground. It didn’t take much for them to tackle him to the ground.
Helen couldn’t help but think now that everything was lost. Their group was split up in half, and now Richard, Luke, and Helen would be trapped in the same prison they tried to free innocent people from.
She didn’t struggle as they led her inside.
…
Although Richard and Helen would end up sharing the same cell with each other, Luke, it appeared, was taken to an entirely different area of the prison. She could hear his struggling cries throughout the halls as they led him past their cell and up a flight of stairs. Helen didn’t hear from him after that.
“Where do you think they took him?” Richard asked.
Helen shrugged, though, looking out the barred window. “Nowhere good.”
The background sound of the prison was a mixture of crazed whispers and laughs, groans of pain, shouts from soldiers, and screams. They kept Helen up at night as she lay on the thin bunk that was given to them in their cell.
It was no real discomfort, however. She had been used to sleeping in uncomfortable places before, so it was almost a comfort that she could try to sleep on the bare mattress she was provided with.
Days blended into nights, and without any window to the outside in their cell, the only way Helen could tell the hours apart was when they would bring a small meal to them after long periods of time.
Another discomfort that she was used to. Food barely seemed like a need to her at this point, as she had survived so long without much of it. Despite his protests, Helen let Richard eat most of her portion with the excuse that she wasn’t hungry. But it would still take a lot for him to accept.
One day, however, there was a banging at their door. Helen lifted her head as the door opened, revealing a guard holding a whip. He leisurely hit it against his hand, as if it wasn’t a weapon that could inflict harm onto someone, but rather, a toy.
Or, maybe he did know that it was a weapon, but he was so proud that he was able to wield it that he liked to show it off to everyone.
Either way, Helen knew it was bad news when he opened their cell door.
“C’mon,” he ordered, “Up and at ‘em. The boss would like to see you.”
Richard stood, but Helen continued to sit in her bunk. Wherever this guard was taking them, Helen had no interest in going. She didn’t trust him, and she certainly didn’t trust the way he held the whip.
Seeing that she wouldn’t follow, the guard marched over to her, raising the whip.
“Girly, get-”
Richard pushed his way in front of Helen, a firm expression on his face to protect her from this man’s wrath.
“Leave her alone,” Richard told the guard, before taking Helen’s hand and lifting her out of the bed. The soldier’s eye twitched, but he lowered the whip. Helen released a breath as they began to make their way out of the cell.
There was a shuffle of footsteps, however, and Helen turned in time to see the soldier raising the whip once again, this time with Richard behind her.
She opened her mouth to shout for him to look out, but she was too late.
Crack!
Richard fell forward, a gasp of pain releasing from his mouth. He stumbled to his knees, and Helen saw that his shirt was ripped open from the power of the whip, blood blooming from the cut underneath.
Just as the guard raised the whip again, Helen shouted, “Stop!”
He gave her a look, but she helped Richard up.
“We’ll-we’ll do whatever you want,” she urged him, her face earnest. “Just…please, don’t hurt us.”
The man continued to glare at her, but Helen just let him lead the way to wherever he was taking them.
“Richard,” Helen whispered Richard concerned.
“I-I’ll be fine,” he managed out.
They walked through the maze of hallways, and although Helen tried to memorize the way they were going, she soon lost track.
Finally, he opened a door to a small room and pushed them inside. Sitting at a desk in the center was a Dueglestein man, his hands clasped in front of them.
“Hello,” the man greeted them, a smile on his face. “I trust that you have met my…associates.”
Helen’s eyes drifted to the guard who had brought them there, the whip still trailing at his side.
“Sergeant,” the man now regarded him, “Give us some privacy, will you?”
The sergeant nodded before leaving them alone with the man seated at the desk. Nobody spoke, they just stared at him.
“Hello,” he said again, his smile even wider, “I believe you already know why you are here, so let’s get right to the point.”
Helen and Richard offered him no answer.
“We know who you are,” he continued, “So there is no need to hide your identity. But there is no need for you to worry. You should not face any mistreatment in our facility,” his expression was dark for a moment, as he repeated, “Should. As long as you are obedient, there should be no problem at our fortress.”
It was silent again, until Richard asked, “Who are you?”
The man’s smile returned as he said, “Really, I don’t expect you to remember me. I only saw you with my own eyes months ago, merely for a moment. But I have heard much about you and your group.”
Helen squinted, trying to think if she recognized him. That was when she remembered. At the beginning of the quest, when they had first been taken by the Dueglesteiners, Boromir stabbed Skylar, and then a man arrived and scolded him for it.
But what was his name… she remembered that now, as well. Lord Achilles.
“Ah, yes,” his voice sounded dangerous now as he looked at Helen, presumably seeing the reaction on her face. “You do remember. I thought it may have been too long and that I was cut out of your minds. But she was right. You are as wonderful as they say.”
He sighed, a sad look crossing his face. “It really is a shame that such talent has been wasted on a quest such as this. Perhaps, you could have been intended for greatness. Now, you are but weak children lost in a world that is not your own. Such a shame.”
“But, oh well,” Achilles’ hands folded in front of him, “You do have…other uses. I trust your friends shall be here soon enough. They could never think of leaving the precious children of the prophecy in the hands of such monsters.” A smile curled on his lips, leaving an unsettling feeling in the pit of Helen’s stomach.
“General,” he called out the door, “I believe it is time to return the children to their cell.”
Helen turned, expecting another guard. When she saw the face that stood before her, however, she gasped...
ns 18.68.41.177da2
